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  Wasps seen piercing the mouth or other parts of tree frogs with their sharp weapon when being attack ed. From  The Guardian Magazine,       Nicola Davis  Science correspondent,      Edited by  Amal Udawatta,                    Tree frog spits out a male mason wasp after prick from its genitalia spikes Kipling might well have believed that the female of the species is more deadly than the male, but when it comes to mason wasps, the latter have quite the weapon. Researchers in Japan have discovered that male mason wasps use sharp spines on their genitalia to resist being swallowed by predators. The team made their discovery by housing 17 tree frogs with 17 male mason wasps. While all of the frogs attacked the wasps, just over a third ultimately rejected the insects. “Male wasps were frequently observed to pierce the mouth or other parts of frogs with their genitalia while being attacked,” the authors of the study,  published in the journal Current Biology , report, adding the insects a

By Cherylann Mollan, BBC News, Mumbai, IMAGE SOURCE, KARNATAKA FOREST DEPARTMENT Image caption, The leopard has been photographed with a camera trap An operation to catch an elusive leopard has been under way in the southern Indian state of Karnataka for more than 27 days. The animal first made headlines on 5 August when it attacked a labourer in the densely populated Belgaum city in northern Karnataka. The man was injured but survived the attack. Since then, it has been spotted a few times around a golf course in the city, triggering panic among residents. The state's forest department has enlisted around 300 personnel - from veterinarians and sharpshooters to anaesthetists - to catch the leopard and release it into a forest, but the operation has been unsuccessful so far. The issue has also triggered a political firestorm, with opposition politicians asking the state's forest minister, Umesh Katti, to resign - Mr Katti  said  he was prepared to do so if that meant "the l

Edited by Amal Udawatta The baby elephant was traveling with its mother as part of a jungle herd that was passing by when it fell into a manhole. The mother elephant nearly died during the rescue.         The incident took place in Thailand's Nakhon Nayok province Wildlife rescuers in Thailand on Wednesday saved a pair of  elephants , a mom and her baby, after they both fell into a manhole. The incident took place on the outskirts of the Royal Hills golf course in Thailand's Nakhon Nayok province. A passerby noticed that the baby  elephant  had fallen into the manhole and alerted wildlife authorities and Khao Yai National Park authorities. As the calf fell into the drainage, its mother became distressed and stood to watch while her baby struggled to emerge from the hole. Rescuers began efforts to lift the 1-year-old baby elephant but they could not proceed due to the presence of the anxious mother. The anxious baby elephant unsuccessfully tried to climb out Mother elephant resu

From The Gardian Edit by Amal Udawatta Boom lift, digger and resuscitation used in operation that took place in heavy rain in Khao Yai national park Rescue workers use a crane to lift up a mother elephant after it fell into a manhole in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand.  Photograph: Taanruuamchont/Reuters Veterinarians and park staff have pulled off a dramatic rescue of a pair of elephants in  Thailand  that involved the use of a boom lift, a digger and the resuscitation of an unconscious mother by three people. The rescue took place in the pouring rain in central Nakhon Nayok province on Wednesday when a one-year-old elephant fell into a roadside drainage hole. The distressed mother stood guard over her calf, according to national park staff, but also fell in shortly after she was sedated. 01:15 Mother elephant and calf rescued from drain in Thailand – video Rescuers used a truck-mounted boom lift to pull the mother out before climbing on top of her to perform simultaneous cardiopulmo